Silicon Valley venture capitalist and tech evangelist Marc Andreesen is no stranger to divisive, provocative opinions. A seeming advocate of the experience economy, in a recent interview with NY Mag Andreeesen dropped the following gem when asked about how music is valued in the digital age:

“For musicians, the live-touring business grew four times in the last 15 years. So as digital music has taken reproduction down, as the reproduced version has become abundant, the live experience has become scarce. So touring revenues are way up.”

By using the simple fundamentals of supply and demand, Andreesen attempts to diagnose a shift in value that experiential marketers and forward-thinking business leaders have followed for years. Although the broad strokes may simplify the economics, the key takeaway is that due to the digital age’s increased access and availability of products, consumers increasingly value (the less accessible) experiences. This effect is a principle of what experts call the experience economy.

We see what’s happened to music, what’s happening to retail, and what might happen to theaters down the road. Maybe he’s got a point, what do you think? Has the experience economy finally arrived?

Photo Source: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg